A Discussion About Strikes

By Kat

For the third time in some people’s university careers, lecturers and support staff at a number of UK universities are going on strike. They are striking due to issues around casualisation (a large percentage of staff are on zero-hour contracts, and are working second jobs to keep afloat), pension changes, low pay and high workload. Many students are against the strikes, as we miss out on contact hours, meetings, lectures, seminars and assignments that we technically pay for.

First of all, what is a strike? A strike occurs when a workforce is unhappy with the way they are treated by an employer (in this case, the University itself), so they withdraw their labour, and stop working altogether in protest of conditions. The most famous strike is likely the miners strike of 1984, in which the miners union protested mass closures of mines. The miners withdrew their labour and threw the country into turmoil, as there was now no one mining for coal (which the country relied on at the time). A picket line is something commonly associated with a strike. A picket line is a physical line that staff will stand on (usually outside of their place of work), which they will not cross to go into work, and will encourage others to also not cross.

It is important to remember that those who choose to strike don’t get paid for their time doing so, and many run the risk of damaging their careers, as employers obviously don’t care for people who strike.

You might be thinking, why do strikes affect me? I’m not a miner, or a factory worker, or a lecturer! The thing is, strikes affect everyone. University staff striking affects the students who are missing out on contact hours, the families of the striking staff who are going without pay, the parents of students who are paying for university, the university itself and many other companies who work with the university to provide a service or run events.

However, the most important thing about striking, in my opinion, is whether you support them or not. Here are some things you can do if you support the strikes:

• Email your lecturers (or anyone striking) with a message of support.

• Visit them on the picket line; have conversations about politics, the news, or the strikes themselves. You could also bring some biscuits (I did this for my lecturers and they really appreciated it, especially since I live in cold cold Newcastle!).

• Question the employer as to why they don’t treat their staff properly.

• Tweet/post about your support, the more people who know about what’s going on, the better!

And if you don’t support the strikes (which is completely within your rights, please don’t let another person shame you or put you down for not supporting something!):

• Still go to the picket line and have conversations, explain why you don’t support the strikes, and encourage people to work with the employer rather than strik

• ing

• Counter-protest with other like-minded individuals (just respect personal space of others, and the right to strike and the right to protest).

• Encourage the university/employer to come back to the negotiating table and talk to the striking staff once more! There is always an agreement that can be made, both sides just need to be patient!

• Tweet/post about it! Many lecturers in particular love Twitter, and are open for civil conversation about your concerns (again, something I have done a number of times).

At the end of the day, strikes can affect everyone, so everyone should be respectful. Everyone has a right to go on strike and everyone has a right to protest, so use them! But use them wisely! Be mindful of others, and always be civil when chatting to those who choose to either strike, or not strike.